Custom .223- Barrel options.

Glensman

Well lads,
The brother is doing fairly well in Oz and is talking about sending money home for a custom rifle to be built for his coming home.

I have all the dies etc for .223 so I kind of fancy that calibre because it's just easy...

My .223 is 1-12 twist, I was thinking of ordering his the same, optimised for 53gr v-max.

My question is, how far do you think this combination could group at? The bro wants to be able to shoot rabbits at 3-400 yards.

(it's a bit boring us both having similar guns/calibres- I'm open to advice though). Has anyone any experience of 22BR, is it hard to load?

Cass

The .22BR is a terrific Wildcat round, and with you being able to reload it can only be better. You are looking at a .223 head in a necked down 6mmBR case (IIRC) doing approx. 3600 - 4000fps (depending on powder choice). A brilliant round for both varminting and target.

The dies you have for your .223 will not work though. You would need a set of .22BR dies, and new shell holder(s), different powder, etc. All your other stuff will be fine. The press, scales, primer gun, etc. The bolt face would need to be larger than a .223 (possibly). Also reloads would be the only otpion because, i'm not sure about up North, but down here i don't see any factory ammo as most shooters would reload for this caliber.

Something in the 50-60gr group would be devastating out to 3-400 yards, and if you go for a 1:8 or faster twist you could look at 75-90 gr bullets. They would be great in the wind and drop would be minimal.

The advantages of a .223 caliber would be the ability to use any factory ammo if you fancied a change, but with the 22BR this really wouldn't be an option. I seen one at the midlands one day and the group size at 300 yards were impressive.

No doubt the 22BR is a great round but it limits you to this round and a fairly specific bullet choice. A .223 (depending on twist rate) could be deemed to be the same, but it is just that little easier to "play around with".

Is it purely for varminting or has he other interests that a different caliber might be better suited to?

Glensman

Thanks Ez.

The reason I asked is a barrel came up on another forum. After I made this post I offered to buy it:

match grade , unchambered " Cut Rifled" Border barrel in 224 cal ( Not the Archer barrel)
stainless steel - 12 twist - 28 inch long - No 5 profile - ( Medium Sporter ).

The lad is a hunter like myself and has no interest in target work. I was thinking with a lightish head this thing could shoot a bit like a .204? ie flat and accurate?

I know the twist is slow, but flat shooting would be very important to him- I'm just wondering how far I could push a head of say 40-53gr out of a .223 or a .22br.

(I couldn't be arsed with .223ai)
They say .22br is a 22-250 beater. I like the idea of that.

Cass

I have to say that i'm by no means well versed on this caliber. Anything i know is from asking a couple of lads at the range. I have never owned one.

That barrel sounds good. Border barrels don't usually do rubbish and the fact that its unchambered means no messing around looking to have it checked for being shot out.

A 1:12 is slow, but with 28" it makes up for the slow twist rate. Anything in the 40 - 55gr maybe even 60 gr would work well. With the right powder, and such a light head you are looking at the best pssible speed of up to 4,000fps. Thats .223, .204, and even 22-250 beaters. Or at the very least on a par with them.

Plus if your brother ever wanted to do a it of target a simple change in powder and head choice and you have a seriously accurate caliber for easily 300 yard shooting. The lighter bullet due to the slower twist rate would limit range. 600 could be shot but with the light round wind will play a huge factor, and this is where the heavier VLD rbullets come into play. However you cannot get an all round hunter/target rifle, and must stick to the primary use, in this case varminting.

Have you an action in mind or have you a rifle that can be fitted to take the barrel?

Glensman

Ezridax wrote: »

I have to say that i'm by no means well versed on this caliber. Anything i know is from asking a couple of lads at the range. I have never owned one.

That barrel sounds good. Border barrels don't usually do rubbish and the fact that its unchambered means no messing around looking to have it checked for being shot out.

A 1:12 is slow, but with 28" it makes up for the slow twist rate. Anything in the 40 - 55gr maybe even 60 gr would work well. With the right powder, and such a light head you are looking at the best pssible speed of up to 4,000fps. Thats .223, .204, and even 22-250 beaters. Or at the very least on a par with them.

Plus if your brother ever wanted to do a it of target a simple change in powder and head choice and you have a seriously accurate caliber for easily 300 yard shooting. The lighter bullet due to the slower twist rate would limit range. 600 could be shot but with the light round wind will play a huge factor, and this is where the heavier VLD rbullets come into play. However you cannot get an all round hunter/target rifle, and must stick to the primary use, in this case varminting.

Have you an action in mind or have you a rifle that can be fitted to take the barrel?

It would need to be a good bit better than .223 for it to be worth the hassle!
I know for a fact he wont be doing target shooting- it's not his thing and the only range around here is British Army- which wouldn't be our thing either!

I haven't decided on action, but it would probably be a 700 or Howa 1500 and then a McMillen A5 stock in deep brown and a Sightron SIII 8-32x56.

That's the idea in my head anyway!

zeissman

The 22br would be a great calibre but if he wants a bolt action repeater
you would have to choose your action carefully as some of them may not feed properly.
Some build 6mmbr rifles on the tikka 595 actions and they seem to work well.
If he wants it for long range rabbits a 204 or 20 tac would also be good.
I shoot a good few rabbits with my 204 out to 500 yards in calm conditions.
Mervin young of young guns shoots a custom built 20 tac rifle so he could give you some info on that calibre also.

Cass

The .22BR would be better than the .223 IMO from a performance point of view, however for ease of use, reloaded & factory ammo options, not having to change reloading gear, etc the .223 is the better choice.

Also if your brother got the barrel chambered in .223, and after a while decided he wanted to change to another caliber including .22BR then he can. If he starts with .22BR then there is not alot of options other than larger caliber or cut the crap out of the barrel and chamber to .223/22-250/.204, etc. Still not a major problem, but it means cutting the barrel so you go from 28" to say 26".

TBH its really a personal choice as to which he prefers. Each has its own pros and cons. So the 22BR is a great round, but the .223 is no slouch. The .223 is easier for ammo choice (reload/factory). The 22BR is really a reload only meaning new dies etc, as said above.

Glensman

zeissman wrote: »

The 22br would be a great calibre but if he wants a bolt action repeater
you would have to choose your action carefully as some of them may not feed properly.
Some build 6mmbr rifles on the tikka 595 actions and they seem to work well.
If he wants it for long range rabbits a 204 or 20 tac would also be good.
I shoot a good few rabbits with my 204 out to 500 yards in calm conditions.
Mervin young of young guns shoots a custom built 20 tac rifle so he could give you some info on that calibre also.

I've held his 20tac- I would need to hit the weights and cardio big time to carry that bad-boy about the glens!

Ezridax wrote: »

The .22BR would be better than the .223 IMO from a performance point of view, however for ease of use, reloaded & factory ammo options, not having to change reloading gear, etc the .223 is the better choice.

Also if your brother got the barrel chambered in .223, and after a while decided he wanted to change to another caliber including .22BR then he can. If he starts with .22BR then there is not alot of options other than larger caliber or cut the crap out of the barrel and chamber to .223/22-250/.204, etc. Still not a major problem, but it means cutting the barrel so you go from 28" to say 26".

TBH its really a personal choice as to which he prefers. Each has its own pros and cons. So the 22BR is a great round, but the .223 is no slouch. The .223 is easier for ammo choice (reload/factory). The 22BR is really a reload only meaning new dies etc, as said above.

I'm leaning towards .22BR, but I will take advice as this will be a slow burner. I like .223, that's why I have one. But the fact that I have one is the reason I think he should get something a bit different.

I should have mentioned, the 22BR will make a decent bang- he'll like that!

Cass

Choice is simple so. 22BR. There is not enough to dismiss it, no real cons that are cost or performance preventing reasons.

I got the offer years ago for a swet 6.5x55. The reason i passed it up was the Father had a 6.5 and i didn;t see the point in having two pretty much identical calibers, rifles, etc. So i went .308 for a change.

Same with yourself. nothing to stop your brother getting the 22BR, and possibly each of ye licensing the other rifles, so its gives you the option to use his, and vice versa. Handy of yer out lamping. Thats what i did with the "ould fella".

Glensman

Ezridax wrote: »

Choice is simple so. 22BR. There is not enough to dismiss it, no real cons that are cost or performance preventing reasons.

I got the offer years ago for a swet 6.5x55. The reason i passed it up was the Father had a 6.5 and i didn;t see the point in having two pretty much identical calibers, rifles, etc. So i went .308 for a change.

Same with yourself. nothing to stop your brother getting the 22BR, and possibly each of ye licensing the other rifles, so its gives you the option to use his, and vice versa. Handy of yer out lamping. Thats what i did with the "ould fella".

Aye it's def what I'm leaning towards.
Will wait to see how much money he sends home then go have a talk with Ferghal. If this barrel hadn't come up I was leaning towards a .20, but I think the .22 bullet availability has to be considered as well.

Looking forward to getting my hands on 53gr v-max heads to see how they run!